Locking device for tubular lamps or the like



H. 8.. BIXBY Dec. 14, 1943.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR TUBULAR LAMPS OR THE LIKE Filed March 25 1942Patented Dec. 1%, $43

2,336,587 LUCEHN G DEVICE FOR TUBULAR LAWS OR THE LIKE Y Harold S.Bixby, East Haven,

Conn., assignor, by

direct and mesne assignments, of one-half to Edward A. Abbey, New Haven,'Conn.

Application March 25, 1942, Serial No. 436,093 11 Claims. (173-328) Thisinvention relates to locking devices for tubular or fluorescent lamps.

The fluorescent lamps in present use are of cylindrical or tubularshape, and normally are provided upon their end faces with extendingprong-like contact members which are adapted to be received in endsockets or fixtures disposed adjacent each end face of the lamp, thesecontact members serving both to make electrical contact with elements inthe socket and to sustain the lamp in position.

These contact members are normally'slipped into slots opening throughone edge of the socket members, and then moved either laterally orrotatably to a position in which they are re- 15 tained in the sockets,usually by the spring contacts with which they engage. It has beenfound, however, that due to vibration and other causes it often occursthat the lamps will be caused to move in their sockets and be releasedtherefrom; usually to drop on the floor and break. The present inventionis designed to provide means for locking the lamps against movementafter they have been properly placed in their sockets, so that therewill be no danger of their I being accidentally released, but the lampsmay be removed from the sockets when desired by releasing the securingor locking means. It also occurs in some instances that the end socketsin which the lamps are held are spaced apart a distance slightly greaterthan the length of the lamps themselves, so as to leave some endwiseplay of the lamp between the socket members. When the lamp, due tovibration or other causes, tends to move in one direction or the otheras far as is permitted by the socket and the adjacent end face of thelamp, the prong-like contact members will not be sufilciently long tosecurely hold the lamp in position. That is, while the contact membersat .the other end of the lamp may still engage the socket member, anyslight outward movement of the latter might result in the release ofthat end of the lamp, with the result that it would fall from thesocket.

One object of the present invention is to provide a locking means fortubular or fluorescent lamps such that endwise play of the lamp in thesocket will be prevented or greatly reduced. Another object of theinvention is to provide a locking means for fluorescent lamps such thatonce the lamp is installed in the socket it will be prevented from areverse movement, and hence may not be removed from the socket until thelocking means is released.

continued at the lower end of l the lamp is rotatedthrough an Stillanother object of the invention is to provide a. relatively inexpensivelocking means for tubular or fluorescent lamps which may be easilyinstalled in position to engage the lamp and 5 socket members, andprevent relative movement between the two so as to obviate anylikelihood of accidental release of the lamp from the sockets. I

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features andcombinations-of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed. In theaccompanying drawing: Fig. 1 is a, front elevational view of afluorescent or tubular lamp and socket members therefor provided with myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of Fig: 1; Fig. 3 is a sectionalview on line 3-3 ofFig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of Fig.,3; Fig. 5 is a front view of one of the locking members employed; and

Fig. 6 is a front view of the cooperating locking" member or key. Y

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown at loa tubular or firmrescent lamp of the usual form having,at each end apair of prong-like contact members. it

adapted to be received in socket members'fl.

These socket members are usually mounted at each end of the lamp, whichis adapted to be slipped between the opposing faces thereof.

As shown, the socket members l2 are provided with an annular socket 13having a centrally disposed stud I4 upstanding therein; or projectingtoward the face of the lamp. The stud isprovided with a central slot l5communicating atits ends with the annular socket l3, which slot-is thesocket member to open through the edge thereof, as shown at E6. When thelamp is placed in the socket member, the prong-like contacts H areslipped upwardly through the slots I6 and l5 to the dotted line positionshown in Fig. 2, and then til these contact members reach the positionsshown in full lines in section in' this figure. This is the finalposition of the lamp, members will be irictionally held by the springcontacts ll provided in the socket member 12.

When it is desired to remove the lamp from they socket, the lamp-isrotated through an angle of and the contacts ll may then be slippedoutwardly through the slots l5 and I6.

As stated, it has been found that when the lamps are in the sockets theywill often be caused to rotate against the action of the spring conangleof 90 unand the contact the lamp has been mounted in the sockets.

inner face of Ygle of 90 tact member It by vibration or 1mm othercauses, and thusreach a position-from which the lampwill fall from itsplace within the socket. In order to prevent such an occurrence, I

have provided means to lock the lamp against a return releasingmovement, which in the case of the present socket is a return rotatingmovement. As shown, the locking means'comprises like portion 28 and aprojecting neck or end portion 2|. The body portion is providedwithopcnlngs 22 adapted to receive the contact members ll, whilethetongue or end portion 2| is provided with a slot 23. As shown in Fig. 4,the tongue or end portion 2| will be bent or flexed at an angle tothe'body' portion 20, to extend in a direction away from the face of thelamp.

Themembers 20 are made of some suitable insulating material such asfiber, so that the lamp contacts II will not be short-circuited, and arerelatively thin so that they may be flexed or bent,

as shown in Fig. 4. The material of which they.

are made preferably has slight inherent resiliency so that when engagedwith the second locking element, to be presently described, they willtend to be locked securely in place. H

The second locking element consists of a keyone'element shown in Fig. 5,consisting of a disk-' of the key-like members 24 will fit closelyagainst the outer faces of the members an, and hence will serve to wedgeor hold the lamp against endwise movement in the sockets, so that itcannot move in one direction or another and thus be released owing tothe improper spacing of the sockets. It will also be apparent that themembers 20 and 24, being made from fiber, are very inexpensive and atthe same time very practical and efllcient in operation.

While I have shown and described a preferred v embodiment of myinvention, it will be under stood that it isnot to be limited to all ofthe details shown, but is capable of modification and variation withinthe principles of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is: v

1. A device for securing to its socket a lamp having a pair of contactsprojecting from the end face thereof, said device comprising an elementdisposedhetween the end face of the lamp and the socket and having meansfor non-rotatablyengaging said contacts, and means detachably connectingsaid element to the socket to prevent accidental detachment of the lamptherefrom. 7

like wedging member 24, shown in Fig. 6, this I member being of Lshape'havinga head 25, and being provided upon the rear face of thisheadwith a notch 26. vThis key-like member 24 will be of the properthickness to slide readily through the slots [5 and 18, so that itv maybe inserted into the socket member through-these slots aftg will benoted also from Fig. 4, the width of the key-like member 24 willbe-slightly greater than the depth of the slots and I6, so that the fromthe socket and-thuslimlt endwise movement of the lamp in the sockets.

In installing the locking devices, one of the members is placed againstthe end face at I each end of the'lamp, with the bent lower end- 2!projecting outwardly from the face of the lamp, and with the contactreceived in the openthis member will project slightly ings 22'. The lampisthen inserted in the sockets in the usual way, and rotated through ananuntil it occupies the position shown in Figs. 1 to 4. The key 24 isthen slipped upwardly through the slots l6 and, i5 behind each of themembers 20, the key being inserted through locking element 20. When thekey reaches approximately the limit of its movement, the-lower edge ofthe slot, '23 will engage within thenotch 2i, and hold the key againstdropping from its locking position. The fiber from. which the member201s made will be sufficiently-resilient to permit this action.

It 'will'now be apparent that the lamp cannot "be rotated in the socket,and hence cannot be turned to-position for removal of'the prong-likecontact members ll through the slots l5 and I6.

- This is true becausethe membersv 20 are non-rotatabiyengaged with thelamp owingto the iact that there are two prongs lamp which are engagedin the openings 22, and

the. member20 is in turn held against rotation with respect tolthesocket by'the key 24 which lies in the slots 15 and IS, the keybeingprevented from dropping from place owing to the engagement of the edgeof the slot 23 in the notch 28.

It will also be apparent that the inner edges the slot 23 in the bentend portion 2|"of the H on each end of the -means engaging said contactsand a wedging element engaging the socket member and releasablyinterlocked with said first element to prevent relative movement betweensaid parts.

4. A device for securing to its socket a lamp having a pair of contactsprojecting from the end face thereof, said means comprising a disklikeelement having a body portion provided with openings to receive saidcontacts and a projecting neck, and means interlocked with said neck andengaged with thesocket to prevent relative movement between the lamp andsocket.

5 A device for securing to its socket a lamp having-a pair ofcontactsprojecting from the end facethereof, said means comprising adisklike element having a body portion provided with openings to receivesaid contacts and a projecting neck, and means interlocked with saidneck and engaged with the socket to prevent relative movement betweenthelamp and socket, said last-named means comprising a key member, andsaid member being withdrawable to release the lamp.

6. A device for securing to its socket a'l'amp having a pair of contactsprojecting from the end face thereof, said device comprising a disklikeelement having a body portion engaging said contacts and a projectingneck, said neck'having contacts and a projecting neck, said neck havinga slot thereima key element insertable through said slot and having apart to engage the socket to prevent relative movement between'the lampand socket, and means releasabiy holding said key element in itsoperative position.

8. In combination with a lamp having projecting end contacts and asocket provided with means for receiving said contacts, a lockingelement positioned between the end face of the lamp and the socket andhaving openings to receive said contacts thereby to be secured to thelamp, and an elongated member engaged with an elongated memberinterlocked with said element and non-rotatably engaged with a part ofthe socket to prevent relative movement between the lamp and socket.

9. In combination with a lamp having projecting end contacts and asocket provided with means for receiving said contacts, a lockingelement positioned between the end face of the lamp and the socket andhaving openings to receive said contacts thereby to be secured to thelamp, said element having a slot therein, and a key member passingthrough said slot and nonrotatably engaged with the socket to securesaid element non-rotatably to the socket to prevent relative rotationbetween the lamp and socket.

10. In combination with a tubular lamp and a socket therefor, the socketbeing disposed at one end of the lamp, an element having a body portiondisposed between the end face of the lamp and the adjacent part of thesocket, said element having means for attachment to the lamp, and meansfor securing said element to the socket to hold the lamp againstdetachment from the socket comprising a member interlocked with saidelement and thereby held in engagement with a part of the socket.

11. In combination with a tubular lamp and a socket therefor,-the socketbeing disposed at one end of the lamp, an element having a flat bodyportion disposed between the end face of the lamp and the adjacent partof the socket, said element having means for attachment to the lamp, andmeans for securing said element to the socket to hold the lamp againstdetachment from the socket, said element having a proje'cting neckportion disposed at an angle to the body portion thereof to lie withinthe plane of the socket, and said securing means comprising a key memberinterlocked with said neck portion and received in an opening in thesocket.

HAROLD S. BIXBY.

